How is swine flu in your countries or in your particular area?

Here in Brazil it started without much strength, with confirmed cases only among people who had been in more affected areas (Mexico, USA, Argentina) or their close relatives.  Now there are many cases and death rates show a particular higher percentage of pregnant women.  (sidenote: the first Brazilian who died from swine flu was a pregnant woman who lived in the USA, she had been adopted as a child).

Elderly people seem curiously less affected.  Some say it may be a side effect of mass campaigns for normal flu vaccination for elderly people (free vaccines), others believe this could be an old virus that elderly people might have had contact in the past, so they are immune.  

The end of winter vacations in schools of some cities have been postponed in two weeks, to get advantage of warmer weather coming in.

In a newspaper today, it is said swine flu is 60% of all current flu cases, but most evolve without gravity.

Tamiflu is only available now in public hospitals (people started buying it at drugstores, so the government restricted its sales).  The wife of a colleague showed signs of swine flu, and went in observation for a day in a private hospital, then sent home with prescriptions for anti-fever pills.  If the fever did not cease completely, then she would have to go to a public hospital for specific treatment.

Since the number of cases increased a lot, confirmation tests are only done in more serious cases.

A girl in an excursion to Disneyworld died on the plane on her way home.  She had been tested in a hospital in Florida when she presented symptoms, but was released.  Her room mates, all of which presented flu symptoms at first, but not as strong as hers, are all ok.  I don't know however if it was confirmed she had swine flu, but she was feeling so weak that she was not able to do her luggage and even needed a wheelchair in a stopover in Panama.

This is old news LOL

This is old news LOL

Until you get it. Canada just ordered 50 Million doses of vaccine, which is a bit of mystery since we have only 30 odd million people.
There was a run on antibacterial lotion and N95 masks for a while although now you can get both easily enough.

One of the local News People caught it about 1 or 2 weeks ago...so it did make news here. He was the only case of it I know of in my area of Tennessee.

Quote from: sweetgirll on August 09, 2009, 13:33

This is old news LOL

Until you get it. Canada just ordered 50 Million doses of vaccine, which is a bit of mystery since we have only 30 odd million people.
There was a run on antibacterial lotion and N95 masks for a while although now you can get both easily enough.

You need two doses to be immune.

It's spreading here too. The reason they worry is that it has the same mortality rate as a normal flu, but while normal flues kill old people, this one kills the young ones. Not necesserarily the young and healthy; as Madeleine says pregnant women are at risk, but also those with asthma and other lung problems.

My friend, a doctor, reminded me that something like 15,000 people die every day in North America from the "flu".  H1N1 is getting a lot of press, but it has not caused many deaths. 

That is a lot of people my friend... 15000 a day is 5 475 000 a year! 

But I agree that �regular� flu kills much more people that this Swine flu... untill now...

Claude

Quote from: Pixart on August 09, 2009, 15:10

My friend, a doctor, reminded me that something like 15,000 people die every day in North America from the "flu".  H1N1 is getting a lot of press, but it has not caused many deaths.  

That is a lot of people my friend... 15000 a day is 5 475 000 a year!  

But I agree that �regular� flu kills much more people that this Swine flu... untill now...

Claude

I'm the biggest dope when it comes to numbers....  you can't believe a word I say when it comes to numbers even though I believe myself... I know the numbers she rattled off were shocking.... I began to question my post myself later last night when I read a health blog last night that 10,000 died from the flu in the UK last year.... (I know that I have that figure right... as long as this health site I was reading had it right   )  

In its present forum I do not think we have to worry much.  However it has shown a propensity to acquire new genes and its ability to easily infect large populations who have never been exposed to it, has the WHO ect. concerned about this new H1N1 virus.

This article pretty much sums it up their concerns.
http://tinyurl.com/logpw7

Comparing the mortality rate of ordinary influenza and H1N1, the mortality rate of both is aprox 0.004 per cent depending on where you live, which means four out of 1,000 patients die because of these diseases. The infectivity in case of H1N1 flu is more than the common flu because most people have not been exposed to it in their lifetimes and the complication rate is also higher. Older people may have more immunity because they were exposed to a similar H1N1 virus when they were young. The World Health Organization estimates that about two billion people could catch H1N1 influenza by the time the flu pandemic ends. http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSL4634663

I worry most about people who live in poor areas with crowded living conditions and have poor health due to meager food supply's and non existent health care.

If you mess with a pig you should take the precaution of wearing a mask and condom.

That was a pathetically poor joke, but for some reason I'm still laughing.
When I first heard that cases started to occur in Australia, my first reaction was that it will come to Bali as Aussies come to Bali. And yes there have now been a few Aussie tourists with the virus, who have been imprisoned in state of the art Balinese hospitals. 

If you mess with a pig you should take the precaution of wearing a mask and condom.

LOL!

I havent followed it at all and really know nothing about it, but the radio said the other day that a large pig farm in country NSW (cant remember where) had just been quarenteened.  My wife came home from work (shes a teacher) and said they sent 5 kids home today from boarding school with suspected swine flu, and the boys school where my son goes has sent 60 kids (of about 400) home this week apparently with a few confirmed cases.

I took this in Singapore, needless to say it's been downloaded numerous times. I wish I could get it on DT though.

As Editorial?

It�s not the actual form of swine flu which threatens the whole world population. It�s the possibility that Swine flu combines with avian flu or other highly dangerous flu forms. All flu viruses are known to combine merrily among each other. And swine flu is known to spread easily, that�s an added danger.
So you better pray that we will have our vaccinations before swine flu develops into a more lethal form.

so swine flu + avian flu = flying pig flu? 

And the only thing which can stop flying pig flu is flying Rabbis.

Airborne rabbis fight off swine flu